Computer Mediated Communication

Computer mediated technology has opened up a whole new world of privacy concerns. There are hackers that can access computers anywhere and get sensitive information. Employers can Google applicants to check their personal lives to see if they are what they think is a "good" fit for their company. Privacy concerns even turn into anonymity concerns where anyone can pretend to be someone else. CMC offers digital trails everywhere for those who know how to find or record them. This includes at the workplace, the library, on your cell phone, e-mails, instant messages, chat room discussions, forums and other digital communication mediums.
"Much of the media coverage surrounding young people and online social networks has focused on the personal information teens make available on these networks. Are they sharing information that will harm their future college or job prospects? Or worse, are they sharing information that puts them at risk of victimization?" (Lenhart and Madden, 2007). This question posed by research specialists is heavy and infers a plethora of negative consequences for choosing to share the wrong information or to make one's online profile public. There have already been stories of men who have tracked down under age girls to commit illegal acts and identity thieves who buy and sell sensitive information online (Sullivan, 2008). Privacy laws are still trying to be adjusted to help fight against such crimes, but digital criminals can be hard to track. One study discusses how, "too much bad privacy, such as ‘imposed modesty, chastity, and domestic isolation' ... prevents exposure of the spousal and child abuse" (EPIC, 2004). The problem is that protecting privacy online is becoming increasingly more difficult and more impossible to guarantee (Sullivan, 2008).
Other concerns for privacy online include those related to the US government, among others, data mining information about its citizens (Müller, 2007). In "Would You Mind Being Watched by Machines? Privacy Concerns in Data Mining,” Müller contents that either artificial intelligence is breaching privacy by understanding what it is tracking or the person who inevitably otherwise must be analyzing the information is breaching privacy (2007). His ultimate conclusion is, “The more sophisticated defenders of data mining suggest that its problem lies in how it is used: ‘One of the principal reasons for public concern about these tools is that there appears to be no consistent policy guiding decisions when and how to use them’ (DeRosa 2004, vii). I have tried to show that any use violates a right to privacy – unless it is authorized by the person concerned” (Müller, 2007). With all of the options for CMC to be tracked, there still seems to be some illusion of privacy though in some way all information online is vulnerable and recorded somewhere. Perhaps the future of CMC will find a way to solve these issues and give a realistic expectation of privacy online that if afforded in homes.